The NJBC: Friends Forever?
by edwestick.chuckbass.lover
Summary: Serena never left for boarding school and Nate and Blair never broke up. Blair never slept with Chuck. Nate took his mother's ring and proposed to her, as he was told to. The only problem is...Serena and Nate are still sleeping together. And Chuck's fallen in love with Blair. Can their friendship be saved? Or is it broken beyond repair after all the betrayal? BxC. NxS.
1. Chapter 1

"Ohhhhh, Nate!" A voice cried out through the apartment.

Chuck rolled his eyes. That was definitely not the fiance of Nate Archibald, the beautiful Blair Waldorf. He would recognize that roll of the tongue anywhere: the best friend of Blair, Serena Van der Woodsen. He looked up from his morning newspaper momentarily, to call out: "Hey, Nate, can you keep it down in there? If you're not careful, Blair might hear you all of those miles away."

A few minutes later, a awestruck Nate and an embarrassed Serena, clad in only one of Nate's button-up t-shirt's and a crimson blush, stumbled out of the bedroom.

"Sorry, man," Nate murmured out of the corner of his mouth. "Can't help that I'm good."

Chuck rolled his eyes again, disgusted. He returned to his morning routine of sitting on his little blue couch with his feet propped up on his coffee table, crossed at the ankles, and sipping on a glass of whiskey.

"Isn't it a little early to be drinking?" Serena asked.

Chuck glared at her from over the top of his newspaper. He brought it down a bit. "Isn't it a bit early to be screwing your best friend's boyfriend?" He waited for Nate and Serena to give him a look before he chuckled and threw his newspaper to the side. "Calm down. Look, I appreciate the concern, sis, but my drinking habits are not easily changed." He sat his glass down on the coffee table and stood up, straightening his suit.

"Where are you off to?" Nate asked.

"I have _business _to attend to," Chuck smirked. Nate threw his head back and laughed, knowing exactly what that meant. Serena looked around, confused, allowing his words to process through her extremely slow, blonde head. Suddenly, she scrunched her face up, looking disgusted, as she realized what he meant. She stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed, repositioning his tie tighter around his neck. He nodded at the two pathetic individuals standing in front of him and exited his suite.

Arthur was waiting with the limo downstairs. When he climbed in, he called, "Waldorf penthouse."

When he arrived into the penthouse, there was a ding behind him, signaling that someone had entered the house. Blair's housemaid, Dorota, came shuffling to the elevator. "Mr. Chuck," she said, looking surprised to see him here. "I get Miss Blair for you."

Chuck held up his hand. "There's no need, Dorota. I'll just go speak to her myself." He pushed past her protesting and opened mouth, willing her not to speak anymore. He rushed up the stairs and rapped on Blair's door.

"Come in," he heard her sweet voice call.

He slowly opened the door, peering in to see her sitting cross-legged on her bed, her hair in her face as she poured over some fashion magazine. She didn't even look up, but a gentle smile spread across her gorgeous features. "Chuck," she said. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Chuck smirked at her. "We have a lunch date, Blair. Don't tell me you forgot?"

Blair's eyes widened and she hopped out of bed. "I'm sorry!" She squeaked. "I totally did forget!" She looked around, panicked. Chuck just laughed at her as she went to her closet and started pulling outfits out. "Have you seen Nate today?" she asked, as she held a little black dress in front of her body in the face of her full body mirror.

"Mmm," Chuck mused, watching her frown at the dress in the mirror. "That'll look good on you, Blair..." Blair's eyes looked up and met his in the mirror. She held them there for a moment until he cleared his throat, and she tore her eyes away. "Anyway, yeah, he's been locked up in his room all day."

Blair whipped around to look at him. "Well, is he alright?"

Chuck rolled his eyes at her desperate need to hear news about his best friend. "Your his fiance, you would know better than I would."

Blair made an impatient face. "Your his roommate," she shot back.

Chuck sighed. "He's fine, Blair. I'm sure he'll call you tonight. I'll give him the message."

This cheered her up. "So, where are we eating?"

"Butter," Chuck replied nonchalantly, watching Blair's face light up.

"But that's my favorite-!"

"I know," Chuck smiled back at her.

"But Nate never takes me-"

"I know," Chuck replied again, nodding his head. "Now, get changed so we can go."

Blair stood there, staring at him, waiting on him to exit her room. He stared back at her, not moving from his spot, a smirk playing on his strong features. "Chuck!" She shrieked. "You perv! Get out, get out, get out! I'm not changing in front of you!" She ran towards him, hands out in front of her, until they collided roughly with his chest, shoving him backwards out of the room and slamming her bedroom door in his face. She heard him murmuring some stupid, perverted come back and rolled her eyes, but a smile found its way upon her lips. She slipped out of her pajamas and pulled on the little black dress that Nate had bought her for her sixteenth birthday. She quickly pulled her hair up into an elegant bun and put some lipgloss on, staring at herself in the mirror, trying to decide if she liked the way she looked.

"You look great," she heard Chuck's voice from the doorway. She hadn't even heard the door open. She whipped around, daggers in her eyes and Chuck shook his head. "No, I haven't been standing here the whole time. I didn't see you change." His stomach growled and, as if on cute, so did hers. "Now, can we go? I'm starving."

Blair smiled and walked toward him, linking her arm in his as she always did. She enjoyed the way his bicep felt, and the way a warm glow spread across her skin at his touch but she kept her mouth shut. He talked about some business meeting he had later in the day and she just smiled and nodded and pretended to be listening, but all she was doing was watching his lips as he spoke, the way they curled and spread, wondering what it was like to be one of those many girls that he kissed with them. She shook her head, trying to shake the thoughts out of her brain. She must have just been lonely, been missing Nate, got distracted.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Chuck held the door open for her and she stepped inside, her insides buzzing with excitement to be at her favorite restaurant in all of Manhattan. Chuck stepped in behind her, placing his hand on the small of her back. She had to keep her body from tensing up at the electric shock she felt at his touch. What was going on with her? She swallowed hard and let out a breath when Chuck removed his hand to attend to the host. He started to say his name for the reservation but the host held up his hand. "Bass, yes, I know. Bass, party of two, window view."

Blair's eyes lit up with excitement once again. She loved the window view. Her favorite thing was to sit, eating her favorite food, watching people and trying to determine their daily scenarios or life stories. She hopped with excitement, following Chuck and the host. Chuck pulled out her chair for her, like always, but for some reason, this time, she was struck with an overwhelming feeling of how sweet that little gesture was. She smiled at him and sat down.

"How's the wedding planning going?" Chuck asked her, making conversation.

Blair took a sip of water, trying to soothe her cotton-mouth. "Good," she replied. "Well, as good as it can get, I guess." She blinked. "Nate's mother and my mother are more concerned about it than we are, I guess. I could care less about the flower arrangements and the exact time in seconds that I walk down the aisle."

Chuck looked surprised. "I thought you wanted a perfect princess wedding."

Blair shrugged and her smile faltered. "I always thought that I would be marrying someone who...made me so happy. Sometimes I'm not sure if Nate does that for me." She paused. "All he does is play video games and get high. He doesn't have a plan for college or a career or anything and it just kind of stresses me out. Of course, at some point, I'll be in charge of Waldorf designs, so I can make all of the money but it still concerns me with what he's going to do. I mean, he can't just do stupid teenage boy things forever. I suppose that's our own fault for getting married so young. He hasn't had time to mature yet-" She stopped abruptly, realizing she was rambling. Chuck had just been smiling and nodding along, surely not listening to a word she was saying. "Sorry," she added. "I'm rambling."

Chuck gave her an encouraging smile. "It's okay to express your fears and doubts sometimes, Blair. Truly."

Blair smiled back at him, appreciating his kindness and friendship towards her. Now that she thought about it, when you looked past his pervy jokes and comments, he was a really good friend. He took the time to listen to her, which not even Nate ever did. The only other person that did that was Serena. And where was Serena? She hadn't spoken to her in a few days. Normally, Serena was calling or texting her every day, fulfilling her maid of honor duties, and asking what Blair needed her to do for that day. Now that they had graduated and it was summer, there was much more time for things to be planned, which made it a little less stressful for Blair. They would be married in mid August, nearly a month and a half away, and Blair would return to work at her mother's company, while going to college full-time for a degree in business. She looked up at Chuck, realizing that she never asked what he was doing after the summer was over.

"Chuck," she said. "What are your plans for the fall?"

Chuck shrugged. "I have a huge meeting in London for an entire week after the wedding with the head of Claus Industries over there. He's going to try and let me convince him to merge our companies and go international, with Bass Industries as the name. I would, of course, have to pay him a great sum of money, but that would be no problem. If the company went international, the profit would be outstanding."

Blair grinned at Chuck. "That's amazing!" That was what she needed. A man with a plan, a man that would be able to support her and a family in the future. If Nate had done something like that, they would be a power couple. They would make so much money and be on top of the world. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You never really asked," Chuck said, looking down at his menu.

Blair frowned. "You're right. All we ever talk about is me and the wedding."

Chuck looked up at her. "I don't mind, Blair. I like hearing you speak."

Blair was surprised. Nate had never said anything like that to her. She let out a loud sigh that she didn't know she had been holding in and simply smiled at Chuck in response. "Thanks for doing this, Chuck." She said as the waiter made his way over to their table. "It really means a lot to me that you take the time out of your busy day to take me out to lunch."

"It's my pleasure, Blair. I knew you could probably use a break."

He was so sweet. He was the perfect friend. The perfect guy. The perfect everything. He was nothing like Nate. Chuck was somebody Blair could see herself spending the rest of her life with, but that's not how it was playing out. She'd thought, at some young age, somewhere in the back of her mind, that she and Chuck would end up together. She'd thought this since he had taken her to the park and laid with her under the stars when they were young, after her parents had split. But now she was engaged to Nate. She looked down at the ring, admiring it. It was a beautiful ring and Nate was a good guy. Their relationship was simple. It would always be simple. But Blair was starting to doubt if that was even what she wanted anymore. She knew with Chuck things would be a bit more complicated - they were both very proud and confident and had big plans for themselves. Finding time for each other would be hard, but that was what she wanted. But she had to stay with Nate, for her mother and Nate's mother, to feel comfortable.

They were using their children to help each other with their businesses. Blair didn't mind all that much at first. She loved Nate, she just wasn't in love with him. Her mind always went back and forth between being okay with that fact and then not being okay with it. But she always figured that in the long run, it would be better to spend her life with someone who she had already been with and put up with for so long than someone she had to learn everything about all over again.

After Chuck and Blair were done eating lunch, they climbed back into the limo. As soon as Arthur closed the door, shutting them in, Blair's phone began buzzing. She dug through her large purse frantically and looked around wildly, until Chuck nodded at her hand and she realized she'd been holding it the entire time. The screen read 'Nate' and the background was a picture of him kissing her on the cheek from two years ago. She was always surprised by how happy she looked in that picture, knowing so much had changed from then. She sighed and looked up at Chuck, who nodded with approval for her to take the phone call. She slid the lock screen. "Nate!" She chirped, feigning excitement to hear from him.

"Hey, baby," Nate said in a sleepy voice. Almost too sleepy to be 3:00 pm. Blair swallowed hard to down her suspicions, promising herself she was not going to be a crazy girlfriend - and certainly not a crazy wife! "How are you?"

"I'm good, just out at lunch with-"

Chuck cleared his throat loudly and Blair looked at him. He was shaking his head frantically and waving his hands, telling her not to say she was with him. She paused, confused, before finally filling in "...mother. What have you been up to today?"

She saw Chuck make a weird face out of the corner of his eye, like he was holding back from saying something, but she ignored him. "Oh, you know," Nate said. "The usual. Playing video games and-"

"Smoking weed?" Blair added, faking a laugh. "Of course."

"So how's planning our wedding going?"

Blair felt weird about the way he said that, as if he wanted nothing to do with planning their wedding, which he hadn't. He hadn't pitched in ideas or asked to help in the slightest. Anytime Blair mentioned something, he always just said, "Sure, whatever you want, babe." She and Nate made small talk until he began to sound distracted and she decided to let him go. When she hung up the phone, she looked at Chuck for answers.

"Why didn't you want Nate to know you took me out to lunch?" Blair asked.

Chuck thought for a moment. "Well...you know how Nate is," he tried. "He gets kinda jealous...sometimes."

That was mostly a lie. Nate never go jealous unless Blair was hanging all over someone else. He would never think anything was going on between his best friend and his fiance...unless there was. Blair's heart picked up at the thought. She and Chuck quite obviously weren't sleeping together. But that didn't mean that he didn't like her...She tried to push back the thought. Chuck Bass didn't 'like' girls. He just manipulated them, used them for sex, and then never called them back the next day.

Blair, realizing she had never responded to him and he was looking at her, nodded, putting her phone back into her purse. They pulled up at her penthouse and she slid over to the door. "I had a lot of fun today, Chuck," she said softly, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek, her lips lingering for just a moment over his hot, smooth skin. "Thank you for being so great. I truly needed this. You're an incredible friend." And with that, she slid out of the limo and walked away.

Chuck sighed loudly and slumped back against his seat, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Blair was wrong - he wasn't a good friend, not in the slightest. He wasn't a good friend to her because he refused to tell her about Nate and Serena because he didn't want to hurt her feelings. He wasn't a good friend to Nate because he had fallen in love with his fiance… and it hurt like hell.

* * *

**A/N: **Hello, my lovely readers! Thanks so much for reading the first chapter in my story. I know I have a lot of stories going on at once but I can't help getting bored with them, hence my crappy writing lately. Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, I just really felt that this was a good place to end it! So, Blair, Nate, Chuck, and Serena are all best friends and Nate's parents basically forced him into proposing to Blair. He's been sleeping with Serena behind her back, which we'll see more of their feelings about this in the next chapter. They've all made an agreement not to tell Blair because they don't want to hurt her. Chuck has messed everything up even more by falling in love with Blair himself. Over the course of the next few chapters, we may just see her falling for him as well... Hope you enjoy! Please R&amp;R. :)


	2. Chapter 2

The next few days, Chuck tried to keep himself busy, tried to keep his mind off of Blair. That was, until Serena came back over, and he heard her screaming Nate's name all over again. That was when he took his guilty little butt down to Blair's favorite jewelry store and bought her a diamond-encrusted bracelet. And then, once again, he found himself at her door, dumb, with no excuse whatsoever. At least last time he had a reason for showing up at her door - even if it wasn't a valid reason. He told her that they had planned lunch together but in reality, they hadn't. He knew this could be easily "misplaced" in her mind, with all of the chaotic things going on in her life. He stepped off of the elevator again and this time, Dorota didn't come shuffling over to him.

But he did hear Blair's stomping footsteps and her loud yell, "Dorota, I thought I told you no visitors-" She stopped abruptly at the stop of the staircase when she saw Chuck. Her doe eyes went even wider than they naturally were and she blinked rapidly, as if surprised to see him standing there. This struck Chuck as odd, as it was a general occasion that he stopped by to see her.

"Do you mind my asking why there are no visitors today?" Chuck asked.

Blair looked at him like he was stupid. "Do you see the way I look!?"

Chuck looked at her, taking in her beauty. She was clad in a pair of flannel pajama pants (weird, Blair Waldorf hated flannel and thought it was tacky), an oversized white t-shirt (which he recognized to be one of his own, though he was unsure of how she'd gotten it), barefoot, with a massive ponytail of curls cascading down her back. He wasn't sure what she meant but he was sure she couldn't see her own beauty. It was hard to do. You can't just look in a mirror and see the beauty of Blair Waldorf. You saw it in the way she smiled when she talked about fashion and all of her upcoming designs and shows, and you saw it in the way her eyes lit up when she talked about memories of her family and her close friends. "I think you look quite marvelous," Chuck murmured. "But, of course, that's no different than any other day."

Blair blushed at him and couldn't help it when a smile played on her features. "Well," she muttered. "I guess it would be nice to have some company. And I could always use some help."

Chuck grinned as he followed her up the stairs and into her bedroom, where there were wedding magazines spread all about the floor. He eyed them and looked at her dramatically. She made a disturbed noise and stomped her foot. "Don't look at me like that, Chuck Bass. I really can't figure out what I want Serena to wear!"

"It's not that," Chuck said, his eyes growing wide. "It's the fact that you might just be a wedding magazine hoarder." He laughed. "It's okay, Blair. We'll get you some help."

"Shut up!" Blair said seriously, before she busted out in laughter. "Okay, I admit this looks bad but these were all sent to me by Nate's mother, I swear…okay, so I can start by telling you that I at least know what colors she looks decent in, so we can rip out pages and stack them in piles according to that."

"Listen, Blair," Chuck said. "Before we start, I have something I want to give you." Suddenly, he was nervous. This was very strange and new to him - he had never been nervous around girls, let alone one of his best friends. He reached into suit pocket and pulled out the long little black velvet box. A wave of excitement rolled over Blair's dark brown eyes as he opened the little box. When he revealed what was inside, she didn't shriek as usual. He looked up to see her expression and saw tears glistening in her eyes.

"Chuck," she breathed out. "It's beautiful. You didn't have to. Why-"

"Call it an early wedding present," Chuck said. "One of the many you'll be receiving from me, might I add."

A tear slipped down her face and she smiled as she took the little bracelet out of the box. It had been so long since Nate had done something like that for her that it was shocking. "Can you help me put it on?" she asked softly, and Chuck reached toward her, clasping the bracelet around her wrist gently. He had to admit, the diamonds looked incredible against the pale fairness of her skin, just as he had presumed they would. She wiped her tears away and laughed a little. "There, now _something _pretty is on me, and I don't feel as bad about myself."

"You should never feel bad about yourself," Chuck said, as he reached up to wipe another tear that had escaped out of the corner of her eyes with the pad of his thumb. "You're beautiful, Blair."

* * *

Serena reached for her phone on the nightstand, seeing that she had a numerous amount of missed calls and texts from Blair. She felt a lurch in her stomach and had the sudden urge to vomit. So, yeah, she was sleeping with her best friend's fiance, but that didn't mean she didn't feel bad about it. Of course she felt bad about it. She loved Blair and she loved Nate and it was a really hard thing to do to people you care about but she just couldn't help herself. Around Nate, she felt so happy and so comfortable and so safe. She had never felt that way about any other boy she'd been with before. This wasn't just about the sex for Serena, she was in love with Nate Archibald, which made it that much harder to see him about to marry her own best friend. They weren't happy. She knew that, they knew that, Chuck knew that, everyone knew that. But what could they do? They loved their families and would do anything to help them out. With the joining of the Waldorf's and Archibald's, New York wouldn't know what hit them.

She felt another pain, this one in her chest, as she thought about how it would be if the Archibald's joined with the Van der Woodsen's instead. Serena could be so much better for Nate. It wasn't that Blair was a bad girlfriend, she treated him well and was faithful - which Nate couldn't really say about himself - but, Blair wasn't in love with Nate. That was obvious. And he should be with someone that loved him, someone he loved back. To be fair, Nate was in love with Blair, but he was in love with the idea of her - his perfect, angelic, faithful girlfriend who never did anything wrong. This way, he could have them both - the good and the bad. Serena was the bad, of course. It could never be a good thing to sleep with your best friend's fiance, who she had been with since they were little. But Serena had loved Nate since before then and she knew that he had loved her too.

She locked her phone screen and placed her phone back down on the nightstand, standing up. "What is it?" Nate asked her, looking up from his television, where he had been playing one of his silly video games. Serena shook her head and Nate stared at her in disbelief. He paused his game, which he never did for Blair. That was the first sign that he was in love with Serena. "Serena, what's wrong? You know you can tell me anything."

"Sometimes, this is hard," Serena started, placing her hand on her stomach.

"Oh, not this again," Nate sighed. "Look, Serena, you know I love you. I want you to be happy, and I'm sorry that I'm not the person who can make you happy."

"You do make me happy," Serena frowned. "You are the person who makes me happy, which is exactly why this is so hard. Maybe we should have never done this, never started this. We shouldn't be doing this. It's going to hurt Blair so badly if she finds out. She's been nothing but sweet to you, Nate. How can you not feel bad?"

Nate furrowed his brow, concentrating hard. "Serena, do you really think that I don't feel bad? Do you think it's easy for me to call her every day and talk to her about the wedding I'm having with her in a month and a half? Do you think it's easy for me to see her a few times a week and act like nothing is wrong? Of course it's hard! As much as I love you, I love Blair, too. So of course it's hard for me."

Serena stayed silent.

"Look, if you wanna go, go. But we both know you'll come right back in the morning, just like you always do." Nate said, standing up to meet her in front of the bed. "What we have...is amazing. It's incredible. I've never felt anything like this in my entire life. You're the most incredible girl I've ever known. If I could be with you for the rest of my life, I would. You know that."

Serena shook her head. "No, I don't. If you want to be with me, why don't you be with me?"

Nate made an impatient noise. "Serena. How many times do I have to tell you? This is helping my family out. I would do anything for them, you know that. And I really do love Blair. And I don't want to see her hurt by me breaking up with her a month before our wedding and running off with her best friend. And I know that you don't want to hurt her either. She's your best friend. We're all best friends. That's why she can never know about us. It would kill her, it would tear us all apart. I love the friendship we all have. You can't find a friendship like this. We're like...the non-judging breakfast club," he said. "We know everything we need to know about each other and accept each other's faults. That's so rare. That's so hard to find."

Serena nodded sadly in agreement. "I think it's a good idea if I go home, Nate."

Nate sighed again. "You'll be back in the morning."

Serena looked at the floor. "Yeah, I will," she whispered. She reached up and kissed him on the lips before retreating from his bedroom.

* * *

Serena found her way to Blair's penthouse, deciding it might be better if she just hung out with her for a while. She walked upstairs and began to knock on Blair's bedroom door, when she heard laughter erupt from inside. "Chuck, are you kidding me?" Blair snorted. "That's a hideous color!"

"I dunno," Chuck chuckled. "I think it's quite...flattering."

Blair ripped the magazine page he was holding out of his hand. "It looks like baby poop!"

Chuck busted out into laughter. "What kind of babies are you taking care of, Waldorf?"

Serena stood silent for a moment, even more saddened by the fact that they were having so much fun together. That was what she and Blair used to do...sit around and look at fashion magazines and talk about clothes. The guilt was consuming her, and she didn't know what she would do if she let it take over. She took this moment to knock on the door. She heard Blair raise to her feet and say something stupid to Chuck that made him laugh even harder. She opened the door and a genuinely happy smile reached her lips. "Serena!" she cooed, taking her best friend into her arms. "Where have you been? I missed you!"

"I missed you too, B," she said, hugging her tightly, smiling back at her. When Blair let go, she pulled her into the room. "What are you guys up to?" she asked, looking back and forth.

"Well, sis," Chuck replied. "We've actually been deciding what color dress we would like on you. It's been surprisingly interesting, to say the least." He eyed Blair and they laughed again. Serena felt suddenly left out, like she had missed out on a joke or something. Chuck saw his sister's smile falter and hopped to his feet. "I guess I'll let you ladies squeeze some bonding time in!" Blair looked sad to see him go, making puppy dog eyes at him. He caved. "Would you ladies like to go out for drinks with Nate and I? My treat."

Blair didn't even look at Serena before answering, "We would love to!" As she clapped her hands excitedly together. "We'll see you then. Bye, Chuck."

"Bye, Blair. Bye sis."

Serena eyed Chuck suspiciously. "Is there something going on between you and Chuck?"

"Yeah, you missed it! Actually we just got done having hot animal sex on top of these fashion magazines. Did you know magazines really turn him on? Wow, he's crazy." She rolled her eyes at the look on Serena's face. "No, Serena, nothing is going on between Chuck and I."

"But, the way you looked at him-"

"I just really enjoy his company," Blair said. "And his charming personality...and how he always can make me laugh...and the way he looks...and the way he smells…" She trailed off before realizing what she had said and shaking her head to snap herself out of it. Her hands flew to her mouth, covering it. "I don't know what has gotten into me lately!"

Serena gave her an I-knew-it look that only Serena Van der Woodsen could give. "I knew you were into him, B!"

"Don't say that like it's a good thing!" Blair said. "Might I remind you, I will be Mrs. Archibald in a matter of weeks! This is horrible! Absolutely horrible."

"Does he know how you feel about him?" Serena asked excitedly.

"Serena, stop!" Blair said warningly. "I'm happy with Nate. Please don't screw this up for me."

Serena frowned. "Okay, B, I'm sorry. But don't you think that Chuck at least deserves to know how you feel about him? I mean-" her eyes caught on the shiny bracelet that sat on Blair's wrist. "Did he get you that!?"

Blair snatched her hand away and hid it behind her back. "Serena!" She blushed.

"He did!" Serena said. "He totally got that for you! That must have cost him a fortune! Wow. He must be really smitten for you as well!"

Blair poked Serena hard in the arm. "What the hell has gotten into you?" Serena thought of an awful joke. _Your boyfriend. _How terrible. "Can you just stop? This is miserable enough that I have to deal with my own feelings toward him, I don't need you adding to the hysterics. Please, just leave it alone. I'm sure it's just a crush or...something, I don't know. I'll get over it. I have to. I have a little over a month. I can do that."

"Are you sure?" Serena asked. "Are you sure you can get over him that fast when you see him so often?"

"Maybe I'll just have to stop seeing him so often," Blair said, looking down at the ground. "Though I really don't like that idea all too much." She groaned. "S, what do I do? This can't be happening to me. Two months ago, I was totally content with marrying Nate. Now, I just feel so confused about everything and I have no idea what to do."

Serena stopped thinking about herself for a moment, stopped putting herself and Nate first. She looked at Blair calmly. "B, I love you," she said kindly, reaching out and taking her best friend's hand. "And everything is going to work out just fine, you'll see. Just keep going with the wedding planning and we'll see what happens. If you're not supposed to marry Nate, fate will find a way to stop it."

Blair scoffed disbelievingly. "What, like a sign from about?"

"I believe that could happen," Serena said.

"You really believe that?" Blair said softly, hope dwindling in her dark brown eyes.

Serena smiled back at her encouragingly. "I really, really do." They stared at each other for a moment before snapping back to reality. "So!" Serena clapped her hands together. "Show me your favorites for the color on my dress!" And they began going through Blair's piles, sifting through stacks of different styles and colors and designs. They did this for hours, before finally agreeing on one. "I'm so glad you didn't want me in pink. That's so cliche."

Blair laughed. "S, we're putting you in pale pink. That's not much different."

"Better than hot pink," Serena replied. "Though almost anything is."

Blair snorted with laughter and they both stood up. "It's almost time for drinks with Nate and Chuck!" She said. "I need to shower."

"Yeah," Serena agreed, looking at her friend's greasy hair and wrinkling her nose in pretend disgust. "You do."

Blair feigned hurt by placing her hand over her heart. "Pick something out for me to wear. You can just wear something of mine as well, if you'd like. I don't know if you have time to stop back by home." Serena nodded in agreement and began searching through Blair's walk-in closet.

Blair stepped into the bathroom, closing to door behind her, enjoying the feeling of the cold tile on the pads of her feet momentarily. She padded over to the shower and turned it on, almost the hottest it would go. She loved hot showers - the kind that felt like they might just burn your skin off - the kind that would leave your skin an irritated red when you finally stepped out. Steam began to feel the bathroom as she slipped out of her pajamas and into the shower. She thought about what she was supposed to do for a moment, but this gave her a tremendous headache, so she focused more on relaxing. That's what showers were for, right? Besides getting clean, of course. When she finally finished washing herself, she got out of the shower and blow-dryed her hair. When she was finished, she turned her straightener on and wrapped a towel around her torso, walking back out into her bedroom. Serena was already dressed, in a gorgeous red dress of Blair's that would only look good on her tall figure. Blair wasn't even sure why she had it - it was far too long for her liking. "You look great, S," Blair complimented, watching Serena apply her makeup in the mirror. She was wearing black velvet pumps that made her even taller and her hair was in a fishtail on the side of her face. She had on light makeup to contrast with the bright lipstick she had applied to her lips. "You can keep that dress, by the way. I don't like it."

"Aw," Serena said. "Thanks, B. I picked you out that darling blue dress with the open back that I always loved."

Blair smiled. "That's one of Chuck's favorites-" She caught herself, the heat rushing to her cheeks.

"You know," Serena said, placing the cap back on her mascara. "It's okay to like someone."

"Yeah," Blair said, "But not while you're about to marry someone else." She dropped her towel and pulled the dress on.

Serena looked surprised. Blair not wearing a bra was a common occurrence, one that usually went unnoticed. But Blair not wearing underwear never, ever happened. "You're not wearing underwear tonight?" She asked.

"I'm not really in the underwear-y mood," Blair replied, retreating back to the bathroom to curl her hair with her hair straightener.

Serena watched her go, jealousy boiling in the pit of her stomach. She had a strong feeling that had something to do with Nate. She tried to swallow hard past the lump in her throat and ignore the burning sensation in her chest but she couldn't. Tonight, Nate wasn't hers. He could be hers behind closed doors all they wanted but they would never be able to be together like that in public. Tonight, Nate belonged to Blair. And she would have to watch her paw at him and ogle at him and be a desperate girlfriend in need of attention, as always.

When Blair returned, she looked incredible. That made Serena even more jealous but by this point, she had time to calm down. "Wow," Serena said. "You look amazing!" Blair had placed a thin red belt around the dress that somehow complimented the blue very well. She had red heels to match it, which only made her a tad bit taller than she already was. She had a dark smokey-eye on her eyelids, which really made her brown eyes pop, and she wore a nude shade of lipstick that made her lips look fuller. Blair's vision focused on something on her bed. "Oh, I took my underwear off too. I figured we could do it together and be kind of crazy for a night!"

Blair held up Serena's little black thong. "S, this is hardly underwear to begin with." She tossed it aside and took a deep breath. "Are we ready? We were supposed to be there fifteen minutes ago."

"So, we'll be fashionably late," Serena shrugged.

"Just like I always like to be," Blair said excitedly.

"Well," Serena said. "Just try not to do that at your wedding!"

Blair laughed nervously and they linked arms as they walked downstairs to get into the limo Chuck had sent for them. Blair felt her heart pick up its pace as they drew closer to the bar they were going to. She wasn't excited to see Nate and she knew it. She was excited to see Chuck. She was always excited to see Chuck. Nate hardly heightened her senses. Honestly, the reason she didn't wear underwear tonight was because she hoped maybe Chuck would notice. Her heart increased even more when they stopped in front of the club and someone opened the door. She tried to play it off that she was just excited to be getting out of the house but she knew that wasn't the case. Serena slid out of the door and Blair followed her. A hand extended out to her and she looked up to see Chuck's hand in front of her face, a grin on his face. She allowed him to help her out of the car and smiled back at him, afraid her palms were sweating and he would feel it. That, or maybe he would feel her pulse through her palm. He placed his arm around her waist, escorting her inside like the absolute gentleman that he was. She looked in front of her to see that Serena and Nate were in the same position, Nate whispering something into Serena's ear.

Blair felt a hint of jealousy. It wasn't the same kind of jealousy that she felt when Chuck was near other women, though. It was just a pure, genuine jealousy that the guy she had been with for so long might not love her the same way anymore. All thoughts were ripped out of her skull when Chuck's hand touched her bare back. It was all she could do to keep herself from jumping and she breathed in a hiss through her teeth. His skin felt so good against hers, almost like it was supposed to be there. Chuck looked at her, concerned. "You alright?" he mouthed, over the loudness of the club as they stepped inside.

Blair nodded her head, thankful for him.

Nate turned around and kissed Blair on the cheek. "Hello, darling," he said. Blair was shocked at how dull his voice sounded compared to Chuck's. Chuck's voice was smooth and cool and deep and seductive. Nate's was just your average voice.

"Hi," she smiled up at him.

"I noticed you aren't wearing underwear," Nate whispered huskily into her ear.

Normally, this would have turned Blair on, but for some reason it really weirded her out. A thought flashed through her mind as she thought about how it might feel to have your brother tried to seduce you, and this felt a lot like that. "Yeah," she said, forcing a smirk upon her lips, trying to act cheeky.

"Did you do that just for me?" he asked.

"Of course," Blair whispered back. "Who else?" She turned to see Chuck talking quietly with Serena at the bar. "Let's join them, shall we? And let's not act so couple-y tonight. Sometimes I feel like it makes S uncomfortable." Nate fidgeted beside her and she threw him an odd look. They made their way over to Serena and Chuck and Blair seated herself beside Chuck and Nate, naturally, seated himself on the other side of Serena. No one thought about how strange this appeared - the soon-to-be newlyweds sitting so far away from each other. This was just the order they always sat in, and they always had. It would be very odd if they didn't, and if they did, it would usually mean that one of them was mad at the other.

"You look incredible," Chuck whispered to Blair under his breath.

Blair's breath caught in her throat. "Thank you. You look wonderful too. But you always do, so that's not really a surprise."

Chuck ordered margaritas for Blair and Serena. Nate was suddenly behind Chuck, asking him to switch him places. A round of looks was fired from Serena, Blair, and Chuck, confused as to why Nate suddenly wanted to switch. Chuck agreed hesitantly and took a seat on the other side of Serena, who raised her eyebrows at him. He simply shrugged and ordered a scotch. "And keep them coming," he said when he saw Nate lean in to kiss Blair out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah," Serena agreed. "Me too."

After a few drinks, Blair was completely gone. She had gone from her Nate-is-weirding-me-out-try-to-stay-away-from-him stage to being completely all over him. Well, maybe she wasn't all over him. Maybe she was just seriously too drunk to hold herself up. Serena and Chuck sipped on their alcohol, miserably. Usually, the four of them had a blast when they went out together, but tonight, the tension and jealousy was too much in the air that it almost suffocated them. "Let's go dance, B!" Serena said, standing up and pulling Blair with her, finally tired of seeing Nate rub her inner thigh.

"Oh, I'll come with you!" Nate stood up.

"No," Blair said drunkenly. "Then Serena won't have anyone to dance with!" They all looked at Chuck.

He raised his eyebrows.

"Ew," Serena said. "I'm not dancing with my own brother."

"Fine," Nate said, challengingly. "Chuck can dance with Blair and I'll dance with you."

Chuck almost choked on his scotch and it seared his throat even more. It was all he could muster not to spit it out all over the bar in front of him as he looked around wildly and Serena and Nate disappeared into the throng of people. "I guess you're dancing with me," Blair slurred, tripping over her own feet. Chuck caught her, pulling her close to his body. She sat on the stool next to him. "We don't have to dance. We can just sit here and talk."

Chuck grinned at her drunken state. "I would love that. What would you like to talk about, Blair?"

Serena and Nate were somewhere in the middle of the dance floor, mixed in with all the crazily dancing people around them. Serena grinded her hips against Nate's pelvis, as he gripped on to her hips so hard that she thought they might bruise. She didn't mind and just kept dancing on him. Suddenly, he whipped her around. "I see you're not wearing underwear tonight," he murmured. "Did you do that just for me?"

Serena looked offended. "Didn't you just say that to Blair when we came in?"

Nate looked shocked. "How did you-"

"She tells me everything," Serena said. Her hands flew up to massage her temples. "God, this is so embarrassing! I've become that girl I hate! I've become the girl who is supposed to fall for a line that a guy tells all of his girls!"

"Serena," Nate said, grabbing her wrist. "You know how I feel about you."

"I saw the way you were all over her," she said, ripping her hand out of his grasp.

"You know I have to pretend," Nate said calmly.

"That didn't look much like pretending to me!" Serena snapped. "You know what? I'm out of here, Nate." She held her hands up, stepping away from him. "I can't play your damn game anymore. I'm sick of it."

"You'll be back in the morning," Nate said, just like he always did.

"No, I won't," Serena shook her head furiously. She stepped back again. "I'm leaving. Tell Blair and Chuck I - got sick or something and I'm going home." She turned on her heel and disappeared through the crowd of people.

"Serena!" Nate called after her. He stood still for a moment, shocked. He wasn't sure about what to do. Should he go after her? Pursue her? But what would he do when he got there? He didn't know but he did know he needed to find out. He pushed through the crowd of people, running after her. An image flashed through his head of stopping her on the sidewalk, turning her around dramatically and kissing her hard and passionately on the lips. His vision stopped when he saw Blair practically falling out of her seat at the bar. He groaned in annoyance and ran over to her. "Where's Chuck?"

Blair looked up from where she was staring at the bar. "Chuck is...Chuck is...I don't know where Chuck is." She made a weird face and continued to stare at the bar. "WAIT!" She looked up victoriously. "I know where he is! He ran after Serena."

"Great," Nate commented. He was sort of glad that Blair was drunk, so he wouldn't have to explain to her why he and Serena had got into a fight in the first place. He sat down on the stool next to her. He watched her lips move into a pout and was overtaken by the sudden urge to kiss her. He obliged to his urge and kissed her hard on the lips. When he pulled away, he was out of breath, and she was sitting there looking like the kiss had never happened. But he knew differently. He grabbed her hand over the top of the bar and squeezed gently. Maybe not going after Serena was a good idea. After all, she would be back in the morning. She always was.

* * *

**A/N: **Okay, I know, I know, I know! I know Nate is coming off really douche-y in this story so far, but he just needs some time to figure things out. Being in love with two people is not easy, let me tell ya from my own personal experiences! Anyway, I promise it'll get better and please don't kill me. Nate is definitely one of my favorite characters too but he's going through a rough time. R&amp;R. Thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

The door to Nate's bedroom opened early that next morning and he felt the dull headache of a hangover as he squinted his eyes. He felt her presence before he saw her, and she was back, just like he said she'd be. "You're back," Nate said. "I knew you would be." He smiled up at her.

Serena rolled her eyes. "I'm not here for that. Not today."

"So what are you here for?" Nate asked, propping himself up on his elbows. "I'm sure it's not to tell me that you're sorry about last night?"

Serena shook her head. "No. I'm not sorry about last night, Nate. I was right."

"You were?" Nate asked, confused. He never had to try this hard to get Serena back in his arms. She was usually so easy. At the same time, extremely complicated. "Serena, I'm sorry, okay? What else do you want me to do?"

"I want you to tell Blair about us," Serena said.

Nate sat up, suddenly realizing this was serious now. "Serena, you know we can't do that. I love Blair. That doesn't mean I'm in love with her. But she's so easy to be with that I don't really think I would mind spending the rest of my life with her. But then I look at you and I realize that it would be even better to spend my life with you...But I can't. Blair would hate me. Blair would hate you. Is that what you really want?"

"So what do you want to do, then? Sneak around forever until one day she catches us? Face it, she's not stupid. She's going to find out eventually. She's Blair Waldorf." Serena said, frustrated that Nate just wasn't getting it.

Nate looked at the ground, his facial features telling a story that he was sad. "I guess we really only have the next month and a half before the wedding to get over each other, Serena..." He sounded like a small child who wanted nothing more than to be forgiven for their mistakes and misjudgments.

"And then?" Serena inquired.

"And then it's over," Nate looked up at her, his eyes meeting hers. He felt a spark run between their eyes, as if something invisible kept them there, kept them locked on each other. "It has to be."

He watched as Serena's eyes filled with tears, threatening to pour over onto her flawless doll-like face. He prayed they wouldn't spill, prayed they wouldn't tarnish her beautiful features. But they would. They always did. He wanted to hold her tight, kiss the top of her blonde hair, inhale the familiar scent of strawberries, keep her from hurting. But this was an ache he could not put to rest for her, a void he could not fill. He realized now that he was not a man enough for neither Blair or Serena and he didn't deserve either one of them. And that douche-y facade collapsed down upon him, pummeling him with all of the memories and emotions he had ever had toward either of the two girls. He watched it like a movie in his head - his first kiss with Blair, the excitement, the static, the love. The first time he told her he loved her, dramatic, relieving, satisfying. The first time they made love, romantic, passionate, perfect. And then...the first time he kissed Serena, the intensifying shock, the heat, the need. The first time he told her he loved her, so meaningful, deep, true, real. He opened his eyes, taking in the room around him once again, pushing himself out of his memories, as a single tear slipped down his cheek.

It was then he realized that Serena was gone. For how long, he wasn't sure. She must have slipped out sometime during the movie of mistakes and heartbreak playing through his head. Her words echoed through his head. "And then?...And then?...And then?..." over and over again, like a broken record, stuck on the same spot, like his heart was stuck on the same space of time. He sat down on his bed, hard. Serena's words were now taken over by Blair's words, powerful, strong, "Of course. Who else? Of course. Who else?" And now their words were battling in his head, just like the two of them were fighting for life in his heart. His heart thundering in his chest was the only thing that let him know that he was alive. Everything was silent around him, nothing moved, and he was numb.

He must have stayed in that spot for hours, until Chuck was rapping on his door. Chuck was smiling and then the smile vanished, as he immediately realized that something was wrong. "What?" Chuck asked, patting Nate gently on the shoulder, sitting on the bed next to him. Nate didn't even look at him. "What happened, man? What's wrong?"

"Everything," Nate croaked out. "Absolutely everything."

"Well, tell me about it," Chuck said. "Start from the beginning."

Nate took a deep breath. Inhaled, exhaled. Inhaled, exhaled. Tried to remain calm. "I love Blair," he said, as calmly as he could muster. "But I don't think I'm in love with her. I think I am in love with the idea of Blair and all that comes with her. She's really an amazing girl and I don't know why I'm not in love with her. But I think I could be, if I tried."

"Now, Nathaniel," Chuck started. "I am without a doubt no expert on love and romance, but I do know that you can't force feelings and you definitely can't force love." It was truly killing him to see Nate like this. It was terrible. He had just broken. And though things had been rough between them lately, he was still his brother, through and through.

"But now I've lost Serena," Nate said.

Chuck paused, really thinking about what to say next.

Nate took this as his key to keep talking. "So, yeah. I think I'm going to go to Blair's. I need some comfort right now, she would really do me some good. She's such a good listener, she always knows what to say. She's got such a kind soul, and she puts up with all the shit I've put her through. I'm just now realizing that I had two great things in my life - Serena and Blair. Now that Serena's gone, I only have Blair left to pick up the pieces. And I'm just going to have to be okay with that." He stood up. Chuck didn't try to stop him, didn't tell him what his heart was telling him to. He should have shouted: "Wait, I love her! Please don't take her further away from me than you already have!" But he didn't. He sat still and quiet on Nate's bed, his heart hammering in his chest.

When he heard the door close, he stood up and poured himself a glass of scotch and did what Chuck Bass was best at, drinking away his sorrows. Before noon, he was already drunk out of his mind, stumbling around the suite, more drunk than he'd ever been in his life. Nate had already come back home and gone again, murmuring something about going to stay his mother's for a while. Chuck had hardly paid attention. How could he? Nate had just taken Blair again...even though she was never really Chuck's to begin with. But he'd wanted her to be. Oh, how he'd wanted her to be. She was so beautiful, so pure, so elegant. She was the only light he had in this dark world. But he couldn't have her.

And maybe that was for the best. That would hurt his friendship with Nate, ruin the relationship between Nate and Blair. He was a terrible friend, falling for his best friend's fiance. But then again, Nate wasn't the most faithful man to Blair either. And Chuck could have been, he truly would have been. He would have treated her like she was the most precious thing in his life - because she was.

The next few days flew by in a blur of drunken stupor. After a while of stumbling around drunk, Chuck called Serena. She answered with a soft sniffle and he knew she'd been crying. "You okay, sis?" he slurred.

"Chuck, you're drunk," Serena said. "It's hardly even one and you sound wasted. And yeah, I'll be alright. Nate and I...called it quits today. I don't know why it hurts so bad. He wasn't ever mine in the first place. He always belonged to Blair. Always. I should have just let him be. I shouldn't have kissed him that first time at that wedding. I shouldn't have let things go this far. B is my best friend. She's the most amazing girl I know. And I just wanted to tear her apart and I really can't figure out why."

Chuck said nothing, just listened to his sister talk, admiring the way she talked about Blair.

"He was never mine, Chuck. That's what hurts the most."

"I understand," Chuck said.

"You do?" Serena asked.

"I do," Chuck said.

And that was all she needed. Realization washed over her like a flood and she suddenly felt pity. Chuck hadn't just been the pervy girlfriend-stealer trying to get between his douche of a best friend and Blair. He was in love with her. And anyone who couldn't see that was blind. And then she realized that it had been so obvious, in the way he looked at her. So obvious that she was forced to wonder how no one had seen that sooner, and how Blair hadn't noticed it. Nate was different, carefree, of course he didn't notice that. But Blair. She was so observant, so desperate for love and affection.

"The wedding is in two weeks," Serena said softly.

"Has time really gone that fast?" Chuck asked.

Serena gave a little hiccup of a giggle. "Yeah, I guess it has." She paused. "I guess we're gonna have to just put on some fake smiles for the ceremony."

"I guess so," Chuck said. He felt a sting of pain at even imagining Blair walking down the aisle to Nate's arms, as he just stood so casually to the side. "How can we do this, sis? How can we still be friends with the people we love and watch them in misery?"

"Love hurts," Serena said. "You take risks for the people you love. We love them. So we have to."

"I guess you're right," Chuck said. "As long as Blair's happy, I'm happy."

"Same with Nate," Serena said softly.

They didn't say anything more. They just sat in silence for a while until one of them finally hung up. After the phone call, Serena and Chuck both felt a little better. Chuck sobered up, read the newspaper, and made a few calls to reschedule business meetings to sooner dates to get the ball rolling. He really needed to keep busy to keep his mind off of things for the next two weeks. Serena took it upon herself to do a little retail therapy shopping and maxed out one of her credit cards. She then, carefully making sure Nate wasn't there and wouldn't be there, stopped by Blair's and hung out with her while watching Tiffany's and doing some wedding planning.

When Serena left Blair's, she got a phone call from Nate. She answered if after a long moment of consideration. She would at least hear out what he had to say, give it some consideration. "Yes, Nate?"

"Serena!" Nate said. "I'm so glad to hear your voice." When she didn't respond, he continued. "Serena, I'm sorry about earlier. I was talking nonsense…"

"No," Serena stopped him. She wasn't letting herself fall for him again. Not this time. "I'm a terrible best friend, Nate. In a couple of months, I'm going to be walking down the aisle at your wedding. And not as your bride, either. As your bride's maid of honor. I can't do this anymore, Nate. I'm sorry." She hung up the phone, satisfied with her willpower, but disgruntled at the fact that her heart was breaking into a million more, smaller pieces.

That same evening, Blair stopped by Chuck's on her way back from dinner with her mother. She stepped into his bedroom to see him laying on his bed in his purple, silk robe. He hadn't the slightest idea she was there, so she knocked on the side of the door and he looked up. "Hello, Blair," he said.

"Hi," she squeaked back.

He sat up. "Are you alright?"

"Of course," Blair said. "There's just - um - something I needed to talk to you about."

"Which is?" Chuck mused, trying to act like he didn't care, but in reality, his heart was bursting inside of his chest. Blair didn't answer him, just ran into his arms, collapsing in his grip. He held onto her tightly, becoming her support. "Blair, what's the matter?" He finally broke down, finally showed that he cared.

"I'm afraid I'm making a mistake," Blair said softly, tears streaming down her face. "Am I?"

Chuck sighed. "To me, yes. But that's up to you."

"Why do you think I am?" She asked desperately, needing some kind of answer for all of this.

"Because you don't love Nate," Chuck said. "And you deserve a happy life with someone that you love, who loves you in return just as much. I would hate to see you settle for someone you aren't in love with, Blair. Even if you don't end up with me, you shouldn't marry him. You owe it to yourself to make sure you're happy with your choices, Blair. Are you happy?"

Blair looked at him, awestruck. She didn't answer his question. "Did you say you wanted to be with me?"

Chuck didn't answer her question either. "Just promise me you'll think about it," Chuck said. "Don't settle. And try to be happy." He kissed her on the forehead, like he had done so many times before.

Blair took this as he cue to go and stood up, stumbling out of his apartment, tears blurring her vision. Chuck immediately regretted not telling her how he felt, though he was positive that she knew anyway. Either that, or she was entirely the dumbest human being on the planet.

Chuck was sitting down for lunch the next day when he got a phone call from Nate. "Hello? Long time no talk, Nathaniel. How have you been? Where have you been?"

"I'm good. I've been at my mom's. I just needed some time to clear my head."

"Feel better?"

"Yeah, I do."

"How'd the talk with Blair go after you left that day?" Chuck asked, not really caring in the slightest, but wanting to hear something about her.

"Not good, man," Nate replied.

"Really? Why not?" Chuck asked, his ears perking up.

"Well, it could have been worse, I guess," Nate said. "The wedding's still on but when I got there she was crying and I asked her what was wrong and she said she was still trying to get over someone else and that we should just keep some space in between us until the wedding to make it easier on both of us." He paused. "Who the hell is she trying to get over is all I'm wondering. I didn't know there was anyone. I mean, I can't be mad because I did it too but it's a little embarrassing that I didn't know. I wonder if they were sleeping together."

"No," Chuck said, before he realized that sounded weird. "Blair wouldn't do that." He swallowed hard.

"Hey, have you heard from Serena?" Nate asked.

"I have," Chuck said. "She's doing swell. I'll let her know you asked."

"Thanks, man," Nate replied. "Well, I'll get off here. See you at the wedding?"

"I'll be there," Chuck replied. He hung up the phone and calmly sat it down on the table, those his insides and his brain were going haywire. Blair was hung up on him? Well, he was sure she wasn't now but she had been…

The front door opened. "Serena!" Chuck called, surprised. "I thought we weren't seeing each other until later on tonight."

"Hi," a different voice chirped.

Chuck's head snapped up. It was Blair. She was here. She was right in front of him. She looked as beautiful as ever and that made it sting a little more. "Blair," he breathed out. "What are you doing here?"

"You've been ignoring my texts all day," Blair replied. "I was just wondering if you were...okay."

Chuck looked down at his phone. "Oh, sorry. I've been on the phone with Nate and before that I was speaking to some reps from London. Sorry you thought I was ignoring you, but I wasn't. It's just been a busy day."

"Oh," Blair said, looking down at her feet.

"Is that all?" Chuck asked.

Blair started to shuffle her feet all nervous-like and Chuck thought it was really cute. She looked up at him, meeting his eyes that were already waiting for hers. "Look, Chuck," she said. "I know things have been weird between the four of us lately and I hate it. I'm just wondering if you're hurt or upset or anything."

Chuck stood up. "Now you care?"

"What?" Blair asked, shocked.

"This is the moment you choose to care about how I feel?" Chuck asked. Blair looked confused. "Where were you when you knew that I loved you? Why didn't you care then?"

"Chuck what are you-" Her eyes went wide. "Did you just say you loved me?"

Chuck shook his head. "It doesn't matter, Blair. Nothing matters. Just like it didn't matter enough to you to tell me that you felt the same way about me."

"What did you want me to do!?" Blair asked. "That would have made things so much more complicated than they had to be."

"So you lied rather than telling me the honest truth?"

"I'm sorry! I just - I just didn't know what to do and everything was crashing down around me and it's all be so hectic. I love what I have with Nate. Even if it's not true love, I'm in love with the relationship we share. He's my best friend. I don't want to lose him, not like this, not for this reason."

"_This _reason?" Chuck demanded.

"I thought it might be easier that way. Chuck, please don't be mad at me. I really never wanted to hurt you, I just wanted to keep things simple between the four of us-"

"SIMPLE!?" Chuck bellowed back at her, snapping. "How in the hell is this simple!? I'm in love with you and you're with someone who's sleeping with your best friend, when that's ridiculous because you're in love with me!"

"You're in love with Chuck?"

Blair and Chuck both whipped around to see Nate standing in the doorway, an appalled and heartbreaking look on his face.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry, short chapter. And sorry as well for how poorly this chapter is written! I know it jumps around a lot and gets kind of confusing, but this is a very confusing scenario between the characters. So, now we've heard a little more from Nate, so hopefully all of my Nate fans are feeling a little better about him! R&amp;R.


End file.
